New build 3dmark score

[asymetriccircle]

alright so i just benched the new build. rough specs are an asus pk5-e, q6600 G0, OCZ plat. rev. 2 ddr2 800, evga 8800gt (not superclocked, regular 600/1800).

heres the 3dmark link: http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=5607747

i know that the ram is only running at 780mhz with a 4:5 fsb:dram, but i wanted to run the 6600 at something where i knew it wasnt going to need a voltage bump, currently at 2.8ghz. the 8800 is at 650core/1900mem/~1600shaders.

does this score seem alright? also what are people with 6600s getting to before you typically need to bump the voltage up? also by how much would i need to boost it if it became unstable at say the 3-3.2 ghz range? i know generally what im doing, but playing with the voltage scares me a bit and i cant say ive had years of experience like im sure most people here can. any help appriciated...

 

[beurling]

That score is on par with what you should be getting. My system is a bit better and I'm pushing 15,000 on 3dmark which is only a couple hundred points better than you.

For the Q6600, People can usually get a stable 3Ghz at about 1.22Volts or in that neighborhood. You can go as high as 1.35 for stability purposes without damaging your processor.. for example, my E8400 is set to 1.425Volts in Bios, but with VDroop is actually only 1.38max.

Just try bumping it up in .025 increments and stress it with Orthos.. If it fails, then up it a bit more. On the flip side, you could start at a higher voltage, and lower slowly until it is unstable. Up to you, enjoy overclocking!

 

[asymetriccircle]

cool, thanks man. i take it the 1.22 is the stock voltage that the 6600 runs at? i am just a bit confused with the whole voltage thing, and i know my bios reports one thing which i forget off the top of my head, but cpu-z reports 1.12. is this vdroop? i though vdroop only happens at higher voltages that were set by the user. im just a little concerned because i heard that my mobo has had issues with vdroop in some of the newer bios updates, and im not sure if i have that problem or not.

basically your saying overclock a little bit at a time and if it becomes unstable add voltage in .025 increments till it is?

 

[beurling]

cool, thanks man. i take it the 1.22 is the stock voltage that the 6600 runs at? i am just a bit confused with the whole voltage thing, and i know my bios reports one thing which i forget off the top of my head, but cpu-z reports 1.12. is this vdroop? i though vdroop only happens at higher voltages that were set by the user. im just a little concerned because i heard that my mobo has had issues with vdroop in some of the newer bios updates, and im not sure if i have that problem or not.

basically your saying overclock a little bit at a time and if it becomes unstable add voltage in .025 increments till it is?

1.22 is probably pretty close to stock voltage yes.

And yes, the difference between the bios voltage and CPU-Z is the Vdroop. Vdroop is worse when your CPU is at 100% load, such as during stress testing, but it's not something you should be too concerned about. Like I said, mine is set at 1.425, but is 1.38 in windows, and that's a pretty significant gap. There will always be a difference from bios to windows, no matter what motherboard you have.

What I would do, is if you want 3.2Ghz.. set your FSB to 355 and the multiplier 9. (3195Mhz). And set your Vcore to 1.35V.

If that is stable, then you can lower it one step at a time until it fails a stress test.

If you have any troubles let me know.

 

[asymetriccircle]

alright thanks man i will be trying those settings soon. one last thing however, what should i run the divider at to produce a certain mem speed? im not really sure how good my memory is or how far i would be able to take it so im not sure how far over the rated 800mhz to go.

 

[beurling]

your memory should automatically maintain a 1:1 ratio with the FSB. For example, if you run 355x9 for 3.2Ghz.. each stick of memory will run at 335, and in dual channel that would be DDR2-670. Unless you overclock to 400x9 for 3.6Ghz your memory might not run fully at 800Mhz. If you can set it manually to 800Mhz, then just keep it at that.

Mine are at 890Mhz because my FSB is at 445.

As long as your timings are what they should be for your memory, just ignore it and concentrate on the cpu.

 

[asymetriccircle]

basically what im saying is that i want to keep it at about 800mhz instead of having it run underclocked. currently with everything stock its running at 4-4-4-15 at 1.9v and 800mhz. the ratio is currently 2:3 which allows 800mhz from my 266mhz fsb. the memory its self is rated to 2.1v, do you think its quality enough ram to allow above 800mhz?